Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Two alleged mobsters, indicted last week in a takedown of reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and a dozen other alleged members and associates, were granted bail yesterday.
But U.S. Magistrate L. Felipe Restrepo set stringent conditions for the release of both Martin "Marty" Angelina and Gary Battaglini.
Federal prosecutors sought to have both men, who have pleaded not guilty, locked up on grounds that they were dangerous.
The feds immediately asked for a stay of Angelina's bail, pending an appeal today before U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno.
Family members of both men agreed to post $300,000 bail secured by properties in Philadelphia and Turnersville, N.J.
Restrepo ordered Angelina put under 24-hour house arrest with electronic monitoring and to have limited visitors.
Battaglini was permitted to leave his home weekdays and Saturday mornings to continue working as a courier.
Attorneys for Angelina, 48, of South Philadelphia, and Battaglini, 50, of Sewell, N.J., argued that neither was a danger and deserved bail.
Angelina, who served 78 months behind bars after a 2001 conviction for racketeering, extortion and related offenses in the case against former mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, allegedly ran an illegal gambling business and collected debts by extortion.
Justice Department Attorney John Han alleged that Angelina committed the offenses in 2007 and 2008 while on supervised release for the prior conviction.
He said Angelina had "absolutely no regard for court supervision" - he was slammed for four months in 2008 for hanging out with convicted felons - and had shown a "propensity for violence" in the past.
But defense attorney Jack McMahon Jr. ridiculed the new charges against Angelina:
"There is not one threat in this case," he said, adding that anything to the contrary was "fantasy stuff."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor III said Battaglini, who has two prior federal convictions for trafficking in methamphetamine in 1993 and contraband cigarettes in 2009, was an "unacceptable risk" of danger to the community.
Battaglini allegedly ran an illegal sports-bookmaking business and operated an illegal video-poker-machine business out of a private club in South Philadelphia.
But defense attorney Louis Savino Jr. said that the charges against Battaglini were "benign," that he had no history of violence and that his last alleged criminal act in the pending indictment occurred in 2006.